The NBA Conference finals 2011

These days are probably the best of the year for a basketball enthusiast; at least they are for me. Not only are the international leagues coming to an end, the most prestigious league in the world is also nearing the finals. But which two of the four teams remaining will advance is still to be decided, although I have a gut feeling one of the teams will be Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks.

Eastern Conference finals

In the East, the two teams who finished their regular season first and second are the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. The Bulls’ key player is Derrick Rose, whereas the Miami Heat has two additional star players, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, supporting their super star LeBron James.

Derrick Rose excels in every game and is the Bulls true leader, not only in points but in the way he carries himself on and off court. Reporters such as Marv Albert are even comparing his game to former Bulls’ and basketball’s greatest ever name and one of the sporting world’s biggest ever superstars Michael Jordan, a comparison seen as the biggest compliment for any basketball player.

However, does Rose have the skills to be good enough to beat the Miami Heat? If his team, Joachim Noah in particular, keep defending the way they did in game one of the eastern conference finals, and keep LeBron from scoring, they might stand a fair chance.

Game one: Miami 82 – Chicago 103

Game two: Miami 85 – Chicago 75

Even though it is tied at 1-1 game, the situation after 2 games doesn’t look too good for the Chicago Bulls, primarily because they have lost a home game to Miami. All eyes now point to the next two games to be played in Miami, where the Bulls must win one of the games to seize home court advantage.

Western Conference finals

Oklahoma City Thunder is the surprise of the West, but the question is: will they be good enough to beat Nowitzki, Kidd, and the other Mavs, who finally advanced after being upset for several years in a row? Veteran Jason Kidd is playing his A game, and Dirk is just an amazing all around player – probably one of the best ever playing the power forward. After an amazing 48 points in game one (shooting 24/24 from the line, breaking a new NBA record) he fired in another 29 points in game two.

Despite the 29 points coming from Dirk’s hands, it was Oklahoma, led by Kevin Durant who among his 24 points had an amazing dunk over Dallas’ Brendan Haywood, who took the win and tied the series 1-1.

Game one: Oklahoma City 112 – Dallas 121

Game two: Oklahoma City 106 – Dallas 100

So another home court loss in the 2011 conference finals. Marc Cuban and friends now fly to the “Sooner State” to support the Mavericks to the much-needed victory in either game three or game four of the Western Conference finals.